


How Far We've Come

by callunavulgari



Series: Dark Month Collection [44]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Family, Halloween, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-19
Updated: 2013-10-19
Packaged: 2017-12-29 21:17:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/pseuds/callunavulgari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I hate corn,” Nico says, a mullish look on his face. It’s the same look he gets whenever he’s within ten feet of a dandelion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Far We've Come

**Author's Note:**

> Dark Month, Day 19. Because not everything has to be dark and gloomy to be Halloween-related. Corn mazes and conversations are just fine.

“I hate corn,” Nico says, a mullish look on his face. It’s the same look he gets whenever he’s within ten feet of a dandelion. Percy eyes him, amused, as he kicks at one of the towering stalks, only to yelp when it swings back in his face.  
  
“You didn’t have to come, you know,” Percy tells him, reaching a hand out to steady him when he windmills wildly backwards.  
  
Nico glares at him. “Sure I did. Annabeth came too.”  
  
Percy chuckles, reaching over to flick him in the ear. “Annabeth doesn’t have issues with corn.”  
  
From somewhere ahead of them, Annabeth laughs, as if on cue, and calls, “Don’t get lost you two!”  
  
In the crowd of indulgent parents and wailing children, Nico is probably the most out of place. He’s still wearing his suit, though the tie has been loosened around his collar, and his hair is gelled back, save for the one tuft that defiantly pokes out over his forehead. There are shadows dusting the skin beneath his glasses, dark bruises that remind Percy of when he was still thirteen and exhausting himself by traveling the world via shadow travel.  
  
“You’ve been working too much,” Percy remarks, slowly touching his thumb to the skin beneath Nico’s eyes. It leaves a faint imprint behind.  
  
Nico scoffs at him, his loafers making a wet, squelching sound in the mud as they get moving again. “The stock exchange never sleeps, so neither do I.”  
  
Percy narrows his eyes at him, reaching out and sliding their palms together, threading his fingers through Nico’s. “Whatever happened to ‘with great responsibility comes great need to take a nap'?”  
  
“That kid grew up,” Nico sighs, leaning against Percy’s shoulder as they walk.  
  
“Growing up doesn’t mean you stop sleeping.”  
  
Nico smiles at him, tiredly. “Sure it doesn’t.”  
  
“Hey,” Percy stops him again, one hand to Nico’s chest. Years ago, Nico would have flinched away. Now he just stops and waits for Percy to finish. “I’m serious, man. You of all people should know that you’re killing yourself.”  
  
Nico rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. I checked with the Fates. They assured me that I’ve only lost like… a year of my life. Max.”  
  
“That’s an entire year,” Percy whispers, herding them to the side so a family of three can pass. “Look, if you’re worried about us, don’t. We’ll make it work.”  
  
“You’re a captain of a _fishing vessel_ ,” Nico hisses, glowering, his eyes dark. “And Annabeth is still working on getting her PhD.”  
  
“I make money,” Percy cries, offended.   
  
“Yeah,” Nico mutters, eyes cutting sideways so instead of glaring at Percy, he’s glaring at the corn. “But not enough to support the _five_ of us.”  
  
Crickets are _literally_ chirping as they stare at each other, the silence blatantly uncomfortable. Percy’s shoulders slump and just like that, the anger fades from Nico’s eyes. He slides up close and it’s funny that nowadays _Percy_ has to go up on tiptoes to hug him properly, arms around the back of his neck. Seriously, Percy isn’t even necessarily short, a little over 5’10”, but Nico towers over him, stretched long and thin like Jack Skellington.   
  
“I’m sorry,” Nico mutters into his shoulder, pressing a quick kiss to the side of his neck.  
  
“Should I—” he starts, but Nico cuts him off with a fierce kiss, bending him back so his hair is touching the stalks of corn. When Nico pulls back, his eyes are fierce, passionate.  
  
“No,” Nico tells him. “I’m doing this because you _love_ your job—because Annabeth has worked her ass off for this degree. I’ll be fine, okay?”  
  
Another chaste kiss, another quick smile.  
  
“I’m serious, Percy. We will be fine. I’ve just gotta stick with this for a little while.”  
  
Percy sucks in a deep breath, lets it out through his nose, and forces a smile to his face. He remembers a time that he was the savior of the world—that he was the prophecy kid. He was important before, now—now he can barely provide for his family.  
  
Nico punches him in the shoulder, shaking him from his thoughts. “None of that,” he says sharply and tugs on the hem of Percy’s sweater, bringing him in close.   
  
“Close your eyes,” Nico whispers, his breath stirring the hairs atop Percy’s head. Percy obligingly closes his eyes and then they’re falling into shadow.  
  
.  
  
Annabeth doesn’t even blink when they materialize behind her, just gives them this wry, amused look before returning her attention to a bouncing Arianna.   
  
At eight, Arianna is a ball of endless energy and enthusiasm. She was… unexpected, but not unwanted. The pregnancy caused endless amounts of stress for both of  them, but mostly Annabeth, who had been a year and a half into getting her Bachelor’s degree when they found out. They were young and that had been before Nico had reinserted himself into their lives, but they’d made it work.   
  
Two years later, Nico had popped into being just inside their shitty apartment to ask for their assistance with something underworld related and got a huge surprise when he was greeted by a grinning two year old.  
  
He showed up more often after that and slowly, became a part of their lives again. He watched Arianna sometimes, if he was around and everyone else was busy. He tagged along with them to Camp Halfblood, helping them coach some of the younger kids there. They had _brunch_ with him on Saturdays.  
  
Falling into bed with him wasn’t really part of the plan, but honestly, it was a miracle it hadn’t happened sooner.  
  
Sally was watching Arianna for the night and they’d completely intended to spend the night curled up on the couch watching dumb movies and cuddling. When Nico showed up halfway through the Notebook, he’d stayed. Originally he’d insisted on sitting on the floor, but when Annabeth got up to put in the Lion King, she’d nudged him with her foot until he got up and went to sit next to Percy.  
  
It should have been awkward, but somehow it wasn’t. They should have been annoyed that he was interrupting their one ‘date night’ they got all month, but they weren’t.  
  
They were barely through the title sequence of the Matrix when Nico nodded off onto Percy’s shoulder.   
  
They’d never discussed it before, not _seriously_ , but when the end credits rolled and Nico blinked sleep eyes up at him, Percy had kissed him.   
  
Three years after that, Annabeth had gotten pregnant with Connor. No one was particularly surprised when he was born with Nico’s chin and eyes.  
  
Connor’s propped up on Annabeth’s hip, chewing on a fistful of her hair, and when he sees them, his eyes light up, holding his arms out and making grabby motions.  
  
Nico chuckles, softly, and takes him from Annabeth with a little coo.  
  
“Good talk?” Annabeth asks them, smiling.   
  
Nico, swaying a little in place to make a grinning Connor giggle, just rolls his eyes and leans over to press a kiss to her cheek. She frowns at him, reaching over so she can grab his tie and tug him in for a proper one. Percy watches their lips press together and grins.  
  
Nico’s right, they will make it work. They’re sons and daughters of gods; they could shake the world apart and put it back together better, and he’ll be damned if they fail at something as simple and beautiful as having a family.  
  
“Okay,” he says to Arianna, who is bouncing around him like she’s spirited a pogo stick from somewhere. Her curls flop against her shoulders, mostly out of the braid Percy had done up for her before they left. He crouches next to her, letting out a grunt when she squeals and throws her arms around his neck. “How about we get out of here and go carve some pumpkins, whaddya say? You know how much your papa hates corn.”  
  



End file.
